The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment closed a US$3.5 million contract Tuesday on technical assistance in the development of public-private partnership (PPP) projects with a French consortium in Hanoi.

The signing ceremony was attended by Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Tourism Promotion and French overseas Fleur Pellerin, and Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh.

The deal is co-funded by the Asian Development Bank and the French Agency for Development, aimed at supporting infrastructure investment projects under the PPP scheme in Vietnam.

A public-private partnership is a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies.

PPP involves a contract between a public sector authority and a private party, in which the private party provides a public service or project and assumes substantial financial, technical and operational risk in the project.

Under the plan, the Egis-Adetef consortium will provide consultancy for the Ministry of Planning and Investment in the aspects of strategy, finance, environment, society, and institution.

Egis Group is a French engineering group involved in the areas of infrastructure and transport systems, planning, water and environment.

The Adetef (Assistance in Development of the Exchanges in Technology, Economics, and Finance) is the international cooperation agency under the French ministries of finance, budget and sustainable development.

"This contract is the first evidence of Vietnam’s confidence in and recognition of French expertise in infrastructure,” Fleur Pellerin, who was leading a delegation of more than ten French businesses on a Vietnam visit from July 20 to 22, said at the signing ceremony.

“The ambitious PPP program implemented by the Vietnamese government offers significant opportunities for years to come in this sector, which is one of the most promising industries for French companies in this country.”

Besides attending the ceremony with Minister Vinh, the French Secretary of State also had meetings with Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang in Hanoi.

In Ho Chi Minh City, she was received by the city’s chairman Le Hoang Quan.

During her meetings with the Vietnamese leaders, Pellerin expressed her hope that French businesses can increase their presence in the Southeast Asian country given the historic and friendly relationship between the two states.

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